Bruton, Richard

Tuesday, 23 February 2010

Select Committee on Finance and the Public Service Debate

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As a result of the work done by the Minister’s predecessor, it was discovered, to everyone’s surprise, that the benefits of the tax reliefs that had been established were less than half the costs. Th...

I was not fully convinced by the Minister’s response. If compliance costs are the problem and gathering data about the assessment of tax reliefs is the reason we do not attempt to review them annuall...

I accept that and I am being facetious. I welcome the fact that reports will be made by June. Will the Minister publish this information to enable the committee to fulfil its role of taking an inter...

This is the first sign that the Minister is beginning to amend the crude nature of what is known as the “Lenihan levy”. Can he outline his thinking on the new social tax, which he envisages will repl...

I see what the Minister is saying but he is talking about a new tax for 400,000 pensioners and new tax for 200,000 public servants. There needs to be an evaluation of the rationale for these changes ...

One of the issues here is adapting the tax code in light of the fair deal scheme. I recall from last year’s Finance Bill that the Minister intended to impose a standard rating on nursing home reliefs...

The Minister said that anyone whose mortgage might come to an end under the seven-year rule would retain their mortgage relief until 2017. It has been brought to my notice that once one has gone over...

I do not have chapter and verse, but apparently once one has gone over six years, Revenue is bringing down the shutters, whereas I understand from the Finance Bill last year, it was for seven years.

It was taken out on 31 December 2003.

They are losing out.

It seems harsh when one is giving such a concession to people who happen to be a day early.

Perhaps an amendment providing for a transitional arrangement should be drafted for Report Stage.

An issue has arisen, one which will have been brought to the Minister’s notice, concerning apparent changes to the Revenue’s practice of determining who is and is not in the PAYE system. The cost of ...

Will locums be treated differently?

I am sure the Minister is aware a similar situation seems to have arisen in respect of IT professionals. Because the nature of their work was not continuous, there seemed to be arrangements in place ...

Keep going.

Deputy Ahern is being a little disingenuous. I know that one of the councils to which he refers was forced to introduce a charge in respect of some waste collections because it had found that the fre...

Deputy Ahern will probably move the amendment for Deputy Morgan.

Is there a schedule of effective rates? I received a reply to a parliamentary question indicating that at €125,000 the effective rate of tax would only be 8% under this regulation. That percentage a...

Is it not——

Is not this designed as a minimum contribution regardless of what reliefs are being claimed? For amounts over €125,000, what is the minimum tax that people are expected to pay? I understand there is...

I cannot lay my hands on it but I thought I had a reply to a parliamentary question stating that this comes under the effective rate of tax, whereby if one had allowances which allowed one pay less th...

Why did the Minister fix on 8% which seems a very low contribution for a person earning €125,000?

Does the Minister have a Schedule? Is there a Schedule in the Finance Bill showing how one tapers back?

There could be tapering from €15,000 to €30,000 but it obviously——

I appreciate that but I was surprised——

Yes. Maybe——

Will the Minister provide a note on the issue?

Amendment put.Voted Yes

I move amendment No. 13: In page 27, before section 23, to insert the following new section: 23. — The Minister shall report to the Dáil within 30 days of the enactment of this Act on proposals to int...

Is it not the case that the provision made in the budget is for 10,000 extra places to be provided across all the schemes indicated by the Minister? That is against a background where 140,000 people ...

I do not want to prolong the debate but when the information technology and language concessions were reduced, we had nothing like the scale of the challenge we now face in terms of getting people to ...

I will withdraw the amendment with a view to re-tabling it on Report Stage.

It is his first intervention.

Earlier I had intended to raise an issue in respect of PRSAs. The treatment of PRSAs is different and more onerous in the tax code than that of other pension contributions. I had hoped to table an a...

I do not think it made it through. I did not see it on the list. I thought I had included it. In any case, we discussed it by way of a parliamentary question. The Minister answered it in that form...

I tabled an amendment on a different matter although it is on the same section. It was suggested to me by Deputy Michael Ring.

I move amendment No. 16a: In page 32, before section 25, to insert the following new section: 25.—Section 644AB and 649B of the Taxes Consolidation Act 1997 shall not apply where a change in the zonin...

Sir Humphrey is alive and well. Riddle me that and I will give you a pipe.

Are there many lands whose relevant draft development plans were published before 30 October? If the Minister concedes that there are, will he be dismantling this tax? It is quite hard to grasp how ...

Exactly. Deputy Ring will be able to unleash the full force of his logic on the Minister.

I thank the Minister. That is a rare compliment. The case to which I refer seems to be genuine. I do not know and will leave it to the Minister to assess the knock-on effects.

Thank you, Deputy. I will delegate to Deputy Michael Ring from here on in.